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By BEN ISITT B.A. (Honours), University of Victoria, 2001 a THESIS

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By BEN ISITT B.A. (Honours), University of Victoria, 2001 a THESIS THE SEARCH FOR SOLIDARITY: THE INDUSTRIAL AND POLITICAL ROOTS OF THE COOPERATIVE COMMONWEALTH FEDERATION IN BRITISH COLUMBIA, 1913-1928 by BEN ISITT B.A. (Honours), University of Victoria, 2001 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE DEGREE MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of History We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard _____________________________________________________ Eric W. Sager, Supervisor (Department of History) _____________________________________________________ Patricia Roy, Department Member (Department of History) _____________________________________________________ Ian MacPherson, Department Member (Department of History) _____________________________________________________ Gordon Hak, External Examiner (Malaspina University-College) © Ben Isitt, 2003 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Supervisor: Eric W. Sager Abstract Born out of the industrial and political struggles of organized labour at the end of the First World War, the BC CCF was a product of organizational and ideological conflict in the 1910s and 1920s. This study explores the shift of BC socialism towards industrial action, which culminated in the One Big Union and the sympathetic strikes of 1919. It then examines the emergence of anti-Communism on the Left, shaped by the experience of political unity and disunity during the 1920s. These two factors fundamentally influenced the ideology and strategy adopted by the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in British Columbia. The ideological and tactical divisions of the 1930s were contested during the 1910s and 1920s. The collapse of the One Big Union, combined with deteriorating relations with the Communist Party, shifted BC socialists away from industrial militancy and toward parliamentary forms of struggle. iii Examiners: _____________________________________________________ Eric W. Sager, Supervisor (Department of History) _____________________________________________________ Patricia Roy, Department Member (Department of History) _____________________________________________________ Ian MacPherson, Department Member (Department of History) _____________________________________________________ Gordon Hak, External Examiner (Malaspina University-College) iv “Patriotism to a specific organization or to a party at the expense of class solidarity, is but a degree less detrimental than the national patriotism of our masters.” -Jack Kavanagh, British Columbia Federationist, 21 January 1921. v Contents Abstract / ii Acknowledgements / vi Labour and Socialist organizations in British Columbia, 1913-1928 / vii Dedication / viii PART I: Industrial Roots Introduction & Historiography / 1 Chapter 1. ‘Solidarity by Necessity’: Between Syndicalism and Social Democracy, 1913-1918 / 14 Chapter 2. One Big Union: A Case Study of Industrial Solidarity in Victoria, British Columbia, 1919 / 38 Chapter 3. Aftershocks: 1919 and the Decline of Industrial Action / 72 PART II: Political Roots Chapter 4 : “Enter – The Workers’ Party”: The Shifting Bases of Labor Political Unity, 1919-1924 / 97 Chapter 5. ‘Boring from Within’: Communism and the Canadian Labour Party, 1924-1928 / 142 Conclusion / 180 Epilogue / 184 Bibliography / 192 vi Acknowledgements In this work I am indebted to a number of people. First I would like to thank Professor Eric Sager with the Department of History at the University of Victoria, whose patience and direction ensured the completion of this thesis despite my frequent forays into non- academic forms of activism. I would also like to thank Karen Hickton, Karen McIvor and others with the history department at UVic for their unwavering assistance and support. Dr. David Millar provided fruitful feedback and the unique perspective of someone who has interviewed Bill Pritchard. Other faculty members in history, including Professors Patricia Roy and Ian MacPherson, helped refine my ideas and focus my research and analysis. I must also thank the kind staff at the University of Victoria Archives and Special Collections – Terry Humby, Terry Tuey, and Nada Lora – for their assistance over the years. The same applies to Carl Knipstrom and other workers at the British Columbia Archives and Records Service, George Brandak at UBC’s Special Collections division, and the staff at the National Archives in Ottawa. Beyond academia and related fields, I am indebted to both my friends and enemies in the House of Labour and its political organizations, for providing me with the experience and the insight necessary to interrogate the past in the manner I have. All histories are driven by the agenda of the historian, whether explicit or concealed. The perspective I have gained viewing from ‘the inside’ struggles over power and efforts to build solidarity has determined the subject and themes of this study. Finally, I would like to thank my partner Melissa Moroz, my parents Linda and Julian, and my friends, for their support, and for standing shoulder to shoulder, in life, and in the struggle for Socialism. vii Labour and Socialist organizations in British Columbia, 1913-1928 AFL -------------------------------------------------------------- American Federation of Labour ACCL --------------------------------------------------------- All-Canadian Congress of Labour BCFL ---------------------------------------------------- British Columbia Federation of Labour CBRE ------------------------------------------- Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Employees CCF ---------------------------------------------------- Cooperative Commonwealth Federation CLDL --------------------------------------------------------- Canadian Labour Defense League CLP ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Canadian Labour Party CNUX -------------------------------------------- Canadian National Union of Ex-Servicemen CPC ------------------------------------------------------------------ Communist Party of Canada FLP ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Federated Labour Party FOC -------------------------------------------------------------- Finnish Organization of Canada GEB ------------------------------------------------------------- General Executive Board (OBU) ILA -------------------------------------------------- International Longshoremen’s Association ILP ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Independent Labour Party ILP (Soc.) ------------------------------------------------- Independent Labour Party (Socialist) IWW ------------------------------------------------------------- Industrial Workers of the World LRC ----------------------------------------------------------- Labour Representation Committee LSR ------------------------------------------------------------ League for Social Reconstruction LWIU --------------------------------------------------------- Lumber Workers Industrial Union MLL ------------------------------------------------------------------- Miners’ Liberation League NUWA -------------------------------------------- National Unemployed Workers Association OBU --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One Big Union RCWU ------------------------------------------------------------- Relief Camp Workers’ Union RILU ----------------------------------------- Red International of Labour Unions (Profintern) RSPC -------------------------------------------------- Revolutionary Socialist Party of Canada SDP ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Social Democratic Party SLP -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Socialist Labour Party SPC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Socialist Party of Canada STLA -------------------------------------------------------Socialist Trades and Labour Alliance TLCC --------------------------------------------------- Trades and Labour Congress of Canada UBCJ ------------------------------------------- United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners UFA -------------------------------------------------------------------- United Farmers of Alberta UFC -------------------------------------------------------------- United Front Council (Victoria) UMWA -------------------------------------------------------- United Mine Workers of America Vancouver TLC ----------------------------------------- Vancouver Trade and Labour Council VTLC------------------------------------------------------- Victoria Trades and Labour Council WPC --------------------------------------------------------------------- Workers Party of Canada WUL ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Workers’ Unity League viii Dedication This work is dedicated to all those who committed their lives to the struggle for industrial and political democracy in British Columbia. In their honour, may the lessons embedded in their experiences of victory and defeat inform and inspire contemporary and future efforts toward social change. PART I: Industrial Roots Introduction and Historiography At every propaganda meeting the question is asked, ‘Should we organize on the Industrial or on the Political field?’ Surely it is not a case of ‘either’ and ‘or’…Very slowly the lesson of organization on the political field is being learned…Political democracy doesn’t amount to much without industrial
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